3 Chinese Medicine Books for the Everyday Person

There is never enough space for all my books. There are books on shelves, in stacks on my desk, in boxes in the garage. There are endless things to learn in books, especially about Chinese medicine.

Several times I have been asked for book recommendations that an average person can read to learn more about Chinese medicine. Books that are in English, not Chinese, and are applicable, simple, and interesting to read. Here are my top three recommendations:

1. The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine by Ted J. Kaptchuk, O.M.D

This book contains a great overview of Chinese Medicine as a whole, written in easy-to-understand language. It discusses Qi, Blood, Essence, Spirit, Fluids, the organs of the body, the meridians, how they fall into disharmony, and what that looks like. This is a source I used in my Foundations of Chinese Medicine class and is a source I use when researching the best way to explain topics on this blog.

2. Acupressure’s Potent Points: A Guide to Self-Care for Common Ailments by Michael Reed Gach

This book is one of the first ones I was introduced to as a teenager learning about Chinese Medicine. It contains various diagnoses and includes diagrams and explanations of pressure points that can be used to help with those diagnoses. The approach of the book is much Traditional (TCM) and not Classical (CCM), which means that if someone has a headache and they push all the points indicated in the headache chapter of the book, their headache won’t necessarily go away. It depends on the cause of the headache and what those points specifically do. You can know if it’s an effective pressure point by how tender it is. The more tender the point, it usually indicates the point is needed more by the body. If you get this book, it is an incredible resource, simple and easy to understand.

3. Wood Becomes Water: Chinese Medicine in Everyday Life by Gail Reichstein

As a book on applying Chinese medicine, particularly the five element theory, to everyday life. I love one description of this book: “Does your back pain flare up in the evening? Perhaps your water element is weak. Allergies in the spring? Emotional outbursts? Perhaps your wood element is too strong. Using the five element system of Chinese cosmology as a key – wood, fire, earth, metal, water – Gail Reichstein unlocks the ancient mysteries of Chinese medicine and makes them available for the everyday health and well-being of modern readers. Each chapter includes: